A Dingell Dynasty? It could happen.
Debbie Dingell, Rep. John Dingell’s wife, is expected to announce she will seek her husband’s seat in Michigan. Rep. Dingell, who is the longest serving congressman, announced earlier this week he would be ending his 59-year congressional career because he feels it is time to move on. “I find serving in the House to be obnoxious. This is not the Congress I know and love,” Rep. Dingell said to the Detroit News. “It’s hard for me to accept, but it’s time to cash it in.”
Ms. Dingell, 60, is a former senior executive at General Motors and a lobbyist. She currently serves as chair of the Wayne State University Board of Governors. She has been deeply involved in local politics in Detroit and is active in the Michigan Democratic Party. She is seen as the front-runner to succeed her husband.
“We have a very peculiar, very special relationship,” Dingell told the Washington Post. “I want that woman to be happy. I want her to enjoy all the things that mean something to her. I want her to be able to do the things that she wants and if she wants to run for Congress, I want her to do that.”
The 12th district based in Ann Arbor is seen as safe for Democrats. President Obama won 66 percent of the vote in 2012. If Ms. Dingell is elected, the Dingell family will have held the seat since 1933 when John Sr., Rep. Dingell’s father, was elected.